The
desert of Rajasthan: when the women have to fetch water, they are
obliged to walk many miles to the well. During the Q & A at the
world premiere of Lajwanti, Pushpendra Singh defined the
well not only as the source of the water this indispensable element
of life but also as a source of stories. The well is the source of
material and cultural life at the same time.
Cinema
is sometimes the art of storytelling in images and sounds, but
sometimes it goes far back in time to the origins of story telling.
The
story of this film does not seem to be told, it does rather seem to
happen during the endless way, women have to go to the well and back
to their village. The sparingness of this landscape is in a strong
contrast to the beauty of the women´s dresses. Sometimes they sing,
sometimes they are exchanging stories. The way to the well exposed to
the merciless burning sun, the effort to survive and the beauty of
stories, dresses and songs belong together.
Sometimes
it happens that you see a film from a part of the world which seems
so alien to us, so engrossed from our usual life but at the same time
you feel invited to share this life for the limited time of the
length of a film. That does not mean you understand everything but a
film can sometimes gives us an idea about this life strange to us.
The
story of this strange man who collects pigeons, a love story between
this man and a woman seems to be grown directly from this landscape.
It seems to grow on this endless way to the well and back to the
village. The camera itself seems to be a collector of this story –
or in other terms the pendant to the pitchers the women wear on their
head.
The
water is for the physical surviving of the people, the stories, the
beauty of their dresses, their stories and their songs is for the
surviving of their souls.
A
film is always a limited frame of the world. But sometimes like
in Lajwanti there is the idea of an endless over
dimensional big screen where I do not now where nature ends and the
culture of cinematic image making begins.
Every
film is made, every frame is chosen. But though, there are films
which seem to arise just in front of our eyes.
One
can lose oneself in this endless desert landscape. The songs, the
stories and the well are like an idea of home like a safe orientation
in this infinite desert.
When
we remember the history of the making of Jean Renoir´s
masterpiece The River, we have to remember that Jean
Renoir came back to Los Angeles with insufficient material. Renoir re-
created the whole film during editing with a lot of documentary shots
he made against the will of his producer and against the will of
Rumer Godden, the author of the book the film is adapted from. As
Renoir opened the fiction more and more to real landscapes and
impressions he had recorded in India, the film became despite the
disastrous working conditions one of his most beautiful films.
I
am pretty sure, Jean Renoir would have loved Lajwanti.
It
is hard to distinguish in the beauty of Lajwanti what
is made, chosen and selected and what really is arising just at the
moment we see this film.
A
film is often like a journey we have made. What stays with us are
first of all the experiences we have made – if through a real or a
cinematic journey.
The
beauty of cinema does not always appear easily. Sometimes we have to
make a long walk like the women in this film to the well to approach
it. But when we have walked this way we get our reward, the most
precious reward cinema can offer.
Just
one day after I saw this film I close my eyes and I still see images
of this film. They will still stay with me long after this edition of
the Berlin film festival will be history. As Indian cinema became a
real stepchild of nearly all sections of this film festival, like so
often in the last 10 years, one of the very few Indian films I saw at
this festival became one of the most beautiful film experiences, I
made. As most festivals already lost its purpose to discover
strange and beautiful films, Lajwanti is exactly the
right reminder what film festivals once were invented for.
Rüdiger
Tomczak
February
12, Cubix 9, 20.00
February
13, Arsenal 1, 20.15
February
16, Cinestar 8, 22.00
Thanks, Rudiger , once again !! It is equally important to talk about a piece of art and spreading the sensation consciously , we are grateful to you !!
ReplyDeleteThank you Anamika but I think I am the one who has to be grateful.
ReplyDeleteHello Rudiger, It is a great read. Could you guide me on where I can watch the film?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I can´t say. Saw it in 2014 at the Forum of the Berlin Filmfestival. From than on it toured through a few festivals and than some special screenings in India. But as DVDs are almost wiped out in India the films has nearly vanished. I myself wozld like to watch it again.
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